Assignment: China-AFRICOM Response
First read the following two papers. You'll obviously want to take notes. It might also help to outline or diagram the papers and their arguments.
1. Kofi Nsia-Pepra, "Militarization of U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa: Strategic Gain or Backlash." Military Review. Army University Press, January-February 2014. 50-59.
2. Drew Petry, "Using AFRICOM to Counter China's Aggressive African Policies." Airman Scholar. US Air Force Academy, Fall 2011. 25-30.
Next, respond to these articles in a thoughtful (and well-organized!) way. Assume you are being asked to make policy-or at least to select representatives who will review and make policy.
A number of different questions may beproductive to answer, though the format of your response is open-ended and I imagine there are other questions you could also consider.
• What is the problem-in-need-of-a-solution that frames each paper?
• What is each paper's primary argument-that is, what position or policies does it support to solve whatever problem it means to address?
• Do the papers share any common ground? Where do they diverge?
• How isChinarendered in each article?
• How does each paper envision therole of AFRICOM in US foreign policy?
• What kinds of evidence do these papers present?
• What kinds of questions arise from each? In other words, what else would you need to know to evaluate each paper's validity?
• How might either one of these papers be more of less relevant in the context of a new presidential administration in the United States?
I expect that most responses will fall between 900 and 1200 words. No outside research is necessary, but you will probably find yourself drawing on material from class, including discussions, readings, and videos.
FORMAT
Double-spaced, with no extra space between paragraphs. Should be in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.
12-point, Times New Roman font
References to material from class should be clear. Use page #'s in parentheses from readings. No works cited is necessary./